Down Under Comes Up Live
25th November 1966
Among the many firsts for Carnarvon township was that it featured
in the first ever satellite TV broadcast to originate in Australia.
Listen to a 4 minute interview (1.4MB mp3 file) with ABC-TV Perth Senior Engineer Allan Hullett. Photo: University of Western Australia. |
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Link up with British families in the UK
The broadcast was to be a relatively low-key family reunion with three British families in Carnarvon being linked with their families back in the UK.
The three families were Frank and Pauline Vinton and their baby son Ian, Alan and Jean Gilham and their sons Steven and Andrew, and Les and Laura Brightwell. Frank Vinton and Alan Gilham were in Carnarvon to work at the NASA tracking station. Les Brightwell had come to Carnarvon some years earlier and had married a local girl.
NASA Carnarvon engineer Paul Dench recalls,
In addition to the British families, the local publican and Mayor, Wilson Tuckey, a local sheep farmer Clarrie Lewington and flying padre Rev. John McCahon from the Australian Inland Mission were featured. Despite dropouts in the signal, there was over twelve minutes of television.
The broadcast began just after 6:25am London time (2:25pm West
Australian time) on Friday November 25th 1966. It was seen live in the UK. Because
there were no television links from Carnarvon to Perth, a copy of the UK broadcast
was flown immediately to Australia and then released as a news item for use
by commercial channels.
Clipping from a 1967 Department of Supply newsletter. Scan: Alan Gilham. |
The TV Broadcast
With thanks to Alan Gilham for providing a copy
of the broadcast.
Thanks also to ABC TV via Derrick Wright and Ken McKay, and to Bill Woods (OTC).
Screenshots and image enhancement by Colin Mackellar.
All rights are fully acknowledged.
Watch an edited recording of the broadcast from ABC-TV.
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This is how the complete broadcast unfolded
It is 6:25am in London on Friday November 25, 1967. On the BBC, the opening title of Down Under Comes Up Live is accompanied by the strains of Frank Ifield singing Walzing Matilda. |
In London, BBC Presenter Raymond Baxter introduces the broadcast as another step forward in television history. He has with him a globe of the Earth, complete with a model showing the position of the Intelsat IIa (also known as the Early Bird II) satellite. |
Raymond Baxter explains that after an early rocket shutoff four weeks earlier, the Early Bird II satellite is now wandering its errant way round the Earth in an elongated orbit thus providing a brief window of opportunity for the television linkup. |
Paddy Feeny (seated facing audience) in the London TV studio as live television from Carnarvon flashes on their screens. |
Relatives of three British families in Carnarvon wait in the London TV studio. |
As the BBC crosses live to executive producer Kim Corcoran in Carnarvon, viewers see him standing (front and just right of centre) with a crowd in front of the war memorial in Robinson Street. From an 8mm recording made in London by Bill Woods. |
The camera pans up and to the south west to show traffic in Robinson Street. Camel Lane is off to the right. |
On the balcony of the Port Hotel across the street, ABC Science Presenter Peter Pockley interviews the 30 year old publican and Mayor of Carnarvon, Wilson Tuckey. (Wilson Tuckey went on to become a long-serving and colourful member of the House of Representatives in the Australian Parliament.) Local farmer Clarrie Lewington is on the right. |
Kim Corcoran begins interviewing three of the British families in Carnarvon. Front row LR: Laura & Les Brightwell, Jean & Alan Gilham (with their sons Steven and Andrew in front of them), Kim Corcoran (holding microphone), Pauline Vinton (holding 4 month old Ian), Frank Vinton (holding Sussan) and Joanne (standing in front of Frank). |
Kim Corcoran listens to questions coming back from the UK. Andrew Gilham is in the foreground. |
Pauline and Frank Vinton send greetings to their family in the UK. Frank works at the NASA tracking station. |
Pauline Vinton. |
Pauline Vinton holds baby Ian for the family to see. |
Kim Corcoran speaks with Jean & Alan Gilham (with their sons Steven and Andrew in front of them). |
Jean Gilham speaks her husband Alan is on the right in white shirt. (The satellite video link was temporarily lost just as Alan spoke. The audio to and from London was transmitted independently by cable via the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans.) |
Andrew Gilham just after the picture is restored. |
Steven Gilham smiles for his unseen grandparents. |
Mr & Mrs E.J. Gilham Alans parents in London are enthralled as they watch the live picture from half a world away. Mrs Florence Brightwell is at top right. |
Mr E.J. Gilham Alans father. |
Laura & Les Brightwell speak with Les family in the UK. |
Laura Brightwell hears Les family through Kim Corcoran’s headset. |
Flying padre, Presbyterian minister the Rev. John McCahon from the Australian Inland Mission, is introduced by Peter Pockley. |
Part way through the interview, the satellite link is lost and Raymond Baxter in London concludes a memorable and historic programme. |
The Goonhilly Downs Earth Station ident card briefly displays as the satellite link is lost. From an 8mm recording made in London by Bill Woods. |
From the closing credits. |
Photos of the event
The convoy of ABC Television vehicles heads to Carnarvon for the broadcast. ABC TV via Derrick Wright and Ken McKay. |
The camera used for the family interviews is mounted on the Main Roads Department building this photo taken not long before the broadcast. Photo: Alan Gilham. |
Looking along Robinson Street. In the distance is the tower used to relay the pictures to the OTC satellite station. Photo: Alan Gilham. |
The ABC’s Kim Corcoran and Frank Vinton (?). Photo: Alan Gilham. |
The ABC’s Peter Pockley (left) and Rev. John McCahon (back to camera) in preparation for the broadcast. |
Preparations inside the Outside Broadcast van. Image from ABC TV footage via Derrick Wright and Ken McKay. |
The crowd at the war memorial waiting for the telecast to start. Photo: Alan Gilham. |
Kim Corcoran listens to voices from London on his headphones. Photo: Alan Gilham. |
Alan Gilham is interviewed by Kim Corcoran as Jean and the boys look on. Joan Dench is just visible behind the microphone and Paul Dench is hidden behind Kim Corcoran. The Denchs daughter Alison and son Alan are at centre, just in front of Joan. Photo: Alan Gilham. |
Laura & Les Brightwell are interviewed. In this photo, Pauline Vinton is holding baby Ian and Frank has his arms around Sussan (white dress). Standing in the foreground with her back to the camera is Joanne Vinton. (With thanks to Suzi Vinton for help with the IDs.) Photo: Alan Gilham. Click on the image for a much enlarged version. |
Another view as Kim Corcoran speaks with the Gilham boys. |
Les Brightwell. Photo: Alan Gilham. |
The ABC-TV camera atop the Main Roads Department building in the main street. From The Australian Womens Weekly, 14th December 1966. Scan: Alan Gilham. |
The ABC-TV links truck in the red dust beside the OTC antenna used to uplink the TV signal. A microwave link was established to the OB van in town, 5 kilometres away. From The Australian Womens Weekly, 14th December 1966. |
The ABC-TV links truck beside the OTC 42' antenna. Image from ABC TV footage via Derrick Wright and Ken McKay. |
Press clippings
Alan Gilham has also scanned this page from The Australian Womens Weekly, 14th December 1966. (Click on the image for a 300kb enlargement, for here for a 1.1MB version). All rights of copyright owners are acknowledged. |
The Evening Standard of 25 November 1966 reported the TV programme. Scan: Alan Gilham. All rights of copyright owners are acknowledged. |
Another report from an un-named UK newspaper. Scan: Donna Vinton. All rights of copyright owners are acknowledged. |
Alan Gilham has shared these extracts from the Isle of Wight Chronicle, 1st December 1966. |
With grateful thanks to Alan Gilham, Paul Dench, Suzi Vinton, Donna Vinton,
Bill Woods (OTC), Derrick Wright (ABC) and Ken McKay (WA TV History).
See also:
Photos of the Historic Carnarvon – Goonhilly TV Broadcast by Guntis (“Gus”) Berzins. |
Photos of the Historic Carnarvon – Goonhilly TV Broadcast by Guntis (“Gus”) Berzins.
(Would any of the other OTC or ABC people who helped make the
broadcast possible like to share their
experiences?)